She thought about Fabian Kennedy-Craig and Abigail Reilly. Did they know? Was this why their families had fallen out, but the two youngsters kept in touch? Equal amounts of shame and disgust binding them together? She was under no illusion that somebody must know about the men’s proclivities, and that list included, in her mind, Elaine Reilly and Vivienne Kennedy-Craig. Before the meeting, she’d requested Vivienne Kennedy-Craig be brought in for questioning on the matter, and her closest station was Mayfair and St James. How civilised, Kelly thought. The rich even have their crimes examined in style. Meanwhile, Elaine Reilly was being brought from the Penrith and Lakes and should be arriving downstairs shortly. She didn’t give a damn that the press might get hold of such information, and Andrew Harris had no leg to stand on if he wanted to moralise to her about doing the right thing. It was now indisputable that Reilly and Kennedy-Craig were together over the weekend in the Lake District to commit horrific crimes. Laurie Fell, it would appear, was their secret playground, and Kelly didn’t believe for one minute that Nellie Lowther didn’t know about it. It was a constant vexation in police work that, without evidence, no one could progress a case that simply couldn’t stand up in court. For that, they had to piece together information, painstakingly gathered over time, to present to the CPS before they’d take a bite. The CPS, or Her Majesty’s government lawyers, weren’t going to prosecute cases they might lose. Right and wrong didn’t come into it.

It was why a lot of coppers left the force.

Kelly couldn’t bring herself to be anywhere near the cells downstairs when Nellie Lowther and Paul Edderbridge were released, albeit pending further inquiry, which was standard. Of course, Elaine Reilly would more than likely refuse to be accompanied to Eden House to help police with their inquiries simply because she could, and she’d no doubt insist on a lawyer flying in from London. But Kelly reminded the coppers tasked with driving her from the hospital that the press was still camping on the hospital doorstep and they could either go out the front or the back.

As the meeting started with the child abuse team, they spread out a huge file of notes on the table between them. Kelly threw a glance to Kate.

‘What’s this?’ Kelly asked.